Shrimp & Grits Reviews

At Peels in New York City, chefs Preston and Ginger Madson tweak this Low Country favorite with two secret ingredients: a little Budweiser and a lot of tasso, a Cajun-spiced ham, which you'll find at specialty foods stores and cajungrocer.com. You can sub in andouille sausage if tasso is not available.

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4/4

I lived in South Carolina for five years and always refused this meal when offered (couldn't wrap my mind around grits being a savory dish). Some 25+ years later I found this recipe in my inbox, and the picture was too beautiful not to try out.
Menu variations: Andouille is always in my freezer because my family loves cajun food, and I also sprinkled some dried thyme in the sauce since I forgot to pick up tarragon. Stella Artois for the beer. I increased the recipe by half for family of six and served with sliced tomatoes on the side. There was enough for seconds.
Most of the ingredients I already had on hand, so this was an affordable meal to feed my crowd. Cooking the eggs was the worst part, but I wanted to make my dish as much like the recipe as I could even though I abhor runny eggs.
I agree with others that this is a cajun-style preparation and not Low Country, but it was amazing!
Even my super picky eater son who hates grits and hates cheese had two heaping helpings. The grits were rich and flavorful, and the yolk bursting over it all added more creaminess and flavor. No one had a single complaint except when the pan was empty. LOL
This will definitely become a staple for my family. Next time I'll serve the egg with a few drops of Tabasco on the yolk, then this will be a truly perfect dish.

A Cook
from Chicago
/ 10.17.2016

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No egg, please. But otherwise outstanding!

peg52
/ 10.15.2016

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Great recipe! One quick tip in regards to the beer, do not use any beer that is too hoppy, like an IPA, it will turn the dish bitter (I learned the hard way!). Use a beer that is maltier and quite frankly less flavorful, like a Budweiser or Miller GD. I used Andouille as I could not locate Tasso in Arizona (big surprise!) and it turned out great!

cwsfan108
from Chandler, AZ
/ 06.18.2016

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This is a great recipe!
I used really good bacon from the deli and pancetta and I added pepper jack cheese and cheddar. The fresh tarragon is really good. Also I did not use beer but I added more cream for a more creamy consistency. My husband was super jealous he was out of town when I made this!

brookmcrae
from Monument, CO
/ 05.25.2016

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Easy and rave-inspiring! I didn't have fresh tarragon, so I added a teaspoon of dried to the beer/broth liquid. Wonderful flavor!

saralj
from San Jose, CA
/ 04.22.2016

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This is my second time making this recipe, and I am again floored by how good it is. First of all, if you've never cooked cheesy grits, here's my advice: don't worry about how thick it's getting by the end of its hour cooking. If you feel like you need to thin it out while cooking, only add up to an additional 1/2 cup of water (beyond what they include in the ingredients list). You're going to add the cheese and cream at the end, so it'll thin out nicely either way. Second, my husband hates shrimp, but it was easy enough to make one pan of shrimp with andouille (I've never located tasso, but I love andouille so it's ok), and one pan of just andouille. Each includes the nice butter, garlic, beer, broth concoction as well, and each is ridiculously delicious. Third, I think in the future I will add a bit of chopped up greens at the end -- just enough to wilt them -- because that beer broth is magical, and greens would be a nice healthy addition. My goodness. You need to make this.

spazzzmo
from Northern California Coast
/ 04.19.2016

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This recipe is easy. The grits cooked up in about 20-30 minutes. The result was good, but not awesome. I found it a bit bland. We think it would be better with bacon rather than the andouille sausage. And next time I would brown the garlic before I put in the shrimp to make sure they don't get overcooked.

abcooks4u
from Boston, MA
/ 12.02.2015

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This recipe was very nice. I chose not to add the jalapeno, and I am still uncomfortable with the need for the egg, but the combination of tasso and shrimp was an interesting contrast of flavors and textures in the same bite. As a 'Topographic American' I enjoy the contradiction between the perceived elegance of 'polenta' and the notion of 'country grits.' The addition of shrimp elevates the culinary experience.
As with other shrimp/grits recipes, this recipe, too, seemed to move the 'traditional low county' concept of shrimp and grits toward the cajun cuisine. This isn't a bad thing, but if you are trying to replicate the 'low country' cuisine, this doesn't do it. (The low country version tends to be simpler yet still offering interesting texture and flavors.)
The egg feature also makes it more difficult to serve to a crowd, but if it is left off, the recipe is still wonderful.
As I said, I would make the recipe again, but if I am entertaining folks from the low country, I'd probably try to find a different recipe.

wabsci
from carmel, in
/ 08.27.2015

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Really, really good. I've made shrimp and grits before (not this recipe) as it always looks so delicious in the pictures :-), though my first attempt (different recipe) fell short. This recipe however... so good. My store only had quick grits so that's what I used. With the cream, jalapeno, white cheddar... it totally transformed those grits. I used a little more beer than the recipe called for but just cooked it down more (used more shrimp too), used fresh tarragon, Andouille chicken sausage and of course the fried egg (don't skip that addition). Made this for a date night with my 9 year old grandson and we both loved it. Don't change the fundamental ingredients on this one the first time around and you will be so glad as it looks fabulous and tastes even better.

smd4
from Austin, Texas
/ 01.08.2015

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Awesome, my husband was sceptable but after his first bite he was raving about it. I made it per the recipe with only a few adjustments. I had to use dried tarragon, only had yellow cheddar, when garlic started to brown Ithen added the shrimp. Didn't want them overcooked.